MANILA, Philippines - Joe Calvin Devance scored 18 points and pulled down 10 rebounds and the Alaska Aces weathered a mid-game run to beat the Purefoods TJ Giants 76-74 in the KFC Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup on Sunday at the Astrodome in Pasay City.
Alaska closed the elimination round with a 12-6 record - the best in the 10-team tournament - and reserved an automatic slot in the semifinals.
Kerby Raymundo finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds to lead Purefoods (8-10).
The Giants, who went all the way to the finals last year, were relegated to the wild-card stage, along with the idle Coca-Cola Tigers (7-11).
The teams with the two-best records will gain automatic semifinal berths, while those ranked no.3 to no.5 will make it to the quarterfinals outright.
Two more teams will join Purefoods and Coke in the wild cards which will determine the fourth and final quarterfinal team. Based on the current standings, San Miguel (no.6 overall, 9-9 record) and Air21 (no.7, 8-9) appear to be the two other wild-card squads.
Red Bull, which finished a league-worst 5-13 record, was the first team to ousted after the Bulls lost 102-84 to the Sta. Lucia Realtors in the first game Sunday.
The final standings will be determined on the final day of the elimination round on Thursday, Christmas Day, with Talk N Text (10-7) and Rain or Shine (10-7) looking to be the second club to gain an automatic semifinal berth.
Talk N Text faces Air21, while Rain or Shine battles unpredictable Barangay Ginebra (9-8).
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